Missing Link

Not long ago, the Eastern Allies conducted a top-secret atomic test. The force of which was directed mostly underground. But, due to faulty calculations, the explosion caused a severe internal upheaval and molten lava scattered radioactive ore in all directions. Only a few days later, a wandering nomad came upon a half-human, half-bestial form crawling dazedly out of a fissure on the northern edge of the test area. The unfortunate nomad died a few days later of radiation exposure.

Meanwhile, a team of military scientists were sent out to capture the brute, which apparently had survived in suspended animation for countless ages, to be revived by the blast. Soon, subjected to a series of tests, the semi-human creature began to change in appearance, to the amazement of the scientists. The apelike hair which covered his body fell out and weird crystals appeared on him. But, seconds later, as the curious scientists moved in to examine him more closely, he suddenly sprang upward and ripped his bonds as if they were paper.

Then, before the scientists' amazed eyes, he seemed suddenly transformed by the nameless crystal into a glowing pulsating engine of destruction. No longer was he a primitive missing link, but a radioactive monster, such as had never before walked the earth. Fearful for their own safety, the men of science fired upon it, but to no avail. They even called in troops with light mortars. Yet, this merely infuriated the beast-man, so that he lashed out against them with the rage of a maddened dreadnought.

Finally, he was subdued by means of a great bombardment of sleeping gas. And, within hours, military officials made a top-level decision. And so, an ingenious plan was born. While still unconscious, the dangerously radioactive monster was put into a lead-lined capsule and put aboard the freighter of a satellite nation. When he awoke, he found himself in the United States. The crystalline monster, freed from the X-capsule, then roamed through the nearly deserted streets of darkened, downtown New York.

When the Hulk first saw the Missing Link, it lashed out with the fury of a roaring maelstrom and hit Hulk with he power of a pile driver. The two then clashed in close combat, each thinking that the other originally attacked it. Then, when the Missing Link caught Hulk in a bear-hug, all the radiation from the beast-man mixed with the Gamma Rays from the Hulk's own body, the mystical transformation happened, and Hulk became Bruce Banner once again. But for some reason, in this transformation, the brain of the bestial Hulk was now imprisoned in the wounded form of Bruce Banner. Puzzled and confused, the primitive creature dropped Bruce and walked away.

The police investigated the report of a violent disturbance in downtown Manhattan and saw the Beast-Man. The glaring spotlight outlined the glowing figure of the crystalline creature and it enraged him further. Thankfully, not far away, the slight figure of Bruce Banner pulled himself to his feet and changed back into the Hulk. He saw the Missing Link fighting the police and attacked it again. After a long battle, Hulk was able to bury the Missing Link under a pile of rubble from a building. But this was unable to stop the Beast-Man.

After Hulk had buried the Missing Link, Glen Talbot attacked him with a device made to finish the Hulk. This device was developed by Reed Richards and Banner himself several months ago. The blast changed Hulk back into Bruce Banner. Then, the Missing Link rose out of he debris and saw Banner. This time, he recognized him as the Hulk and went after him.

With both Hulk and the radioactive Missing Link on the loose, the police tried to clear the area of all the cars. One was that of Betty Ross. Realizing that Bruce was in danger, she accelerated her car and hurtled it into the Missing Link in an attempt to save Bruce. But this had no effect on the monster. Bruce then told Talbot, Rick, and Betty to run away. The Missing Link grabbed Bruce and the radioactive flood from the monster neutralized the effect of Reed Richards' device.

The Missing Link later settled in a poor Appalachian town called Lucifer Falls, where he worked as a coal miner under the name Lincoln Brickford. However, the radioactive build-up in his body caused radiation sickness in other members of the town. The excess radiation in his body was soon released after a fight with the Hulk that destroyed Lucifer Falls.